CORBY  STARLET

Model Specs Wing Span: 60.75 inches Wing Area: 730 sq. in. Weight Ready to Fly: 6.5 to 7.5 pounds Wing Loading: 20.5 – 23.5 oz/sq. ft.   Power: 61 – 70 Four Stroke, 52-61 Two Stroke

This is an exceptionally well designed and well built ARF.

                                                         Features:
                                                         Precision Wood Contruction
                                                         Fiberglass, Factory Finished Cowling
                                                         Clear Canopy
                                                         Real Iron On Covering
                                                         Extensive Hardware
                                                         Detailed Assembly Manual

The photo on the box doesn't do this airplane justice, it's really a sharp looking airplane having clean lines and precision fitting componernts. The engine requirements are conservative in my opinion, as you will see in my airplane. The airframe is rock solid and will support more powerful engines. It will mandate some precautions if you go the bigger engine route though. My Corby Starlet is equiped with an OS 1.20 AX engine and it fits perfectly! 

First and foremost is, the wing and firewall really need to be fiberglassed to handle the additional stress of the high-powered engine.  Make sure you remove the covering before you glass the joint as depicted in the photo. The remainder of the assembly can be completed per the manual.

The 1.20 AX fits perfectly and the engine cowling completely encloses the massive engine. This setup balances the Corby perfectly on the recommended CG. So, no tail weight will be needed. It's imparative that the CG and control surfaces be set per the manual at least for the first few flights. This airplane is very responsive and twitchy if its not set up correctly. I would highly recommend using exponential, lots of exponential! I set mine up with -50% on the elevator and -30% on the others. This will make it smooth and predictable to fly.

After I get some stick-time with it, I will complete the graphics.

I flew the Corby twice today, and it's a BEAST! The manual wasn't lying about using lots of EXPONENTIAL. I used 30% and it was barely enough. BUT, it flew very good inspite the short coupling. The AX effortlessly lifted the airplane off the ground at 1/3rd throttle. It took some trim but it wasn't very far off. At full throttle it's very fast, extremely agile, and WILD. I think I'll re-set the CG a little more forward and take some of the twitchy elevator out... it's really HOT!!
I put another 3 flights on the Corby this afternoon after some fine-tuning and some preventative maintenance. I moved the CG up a bit, added some exponential, and changed props. It's an incredable airplane. The flat spins are absolutely perfect, especially the inverted. It's knife-edge is good but needs elevator correction to track straight. The inverted flight is hands-free It will slightly stall when given full up elevator abruptly but its predictable and east to recover. There's no tip-stall on landing at all. The ground handling is responsive but you need to be careful to prevent ground looping. Take-offs are a no brainer. With 1/3rd throttle... plus 5 feet of rollout, its airborn going straight up as high as you want to go.
 
I did 6 to 10 high-speed passes today and the engine kept a good smoke trail the whole time and it's haulling butt. Some passes were dives and some were left-hand pylon turns. The Corby can and will make very sharp turns at full throttle and won't slow down much at all.

I might note here, that this airplane is not for beginners or even intermediate flyers. This is a very agile and responsive airplane and one could get into trouble real fast if you lack extensive stick-time. HOWEVER, in the hands of a skilled pilot this airplane will perform magic in the sky unlike anything you've ever flown!      
 
This airplane is a keeper!

mark.fuess@hotmail.com